Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Christmas season has arrived a little earlier than usual this year. I’ve decided from now on we’ll decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving – otherwise the ‘stuff’ isn’t out long enough to really enjoy. This year we really had to move as we’re hosting a party this weekend.

Yes, because nothing says ‘good idea’ like having 18 people to your house with 3 week-old newborns. Yikers.

We went to our usual tree farm in Lincoln County…

we took the boys out for a second but it was too chilly for them. thankfully A was with us and waited in the car with them.

after leaving the boys back at the car, i found emi and marcus checking out the massive blow-up santa.

cutting down the tree. look at how emi is laying on top of poor marcus – she’s had a serious case of the ‘papas’ and pretty much sticks to him the second he gets home.

hauling it in.

Note to self: noticed many smart smart families with tripods and all dressed up taking their Christmas card pics at the tree farm. Genius.

There’s not ONE picture of us at thanksgiving. We just couldn’t get it together long enough :(.

Trust me when I tell you the kids looked adorable in their matching turkey shirts with their names monogrammed on them. And trust me when I say we had a fine time at my friend Tracy’s house and were eternally grateful a) not to have to cook dinner and b) not to have to clean up after dinner.

I am always so appreciative of hand-made gifts people give my kidlets and these items are no exception. As a knitter, I know what a labor of love doing something like this is, and I’m also acutely aware that most people who do this type of work have plenty of other kids (namely, their own!) to knit for.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

The ‘baby whisperer’ arrived at our house on Tuesday afternoon, bearing bags full of gifts for all three kids (much to Emilia’s delight – another baby doll, some books, and a new tea set) and her incredible ‘baby whisperer’ abilities.

That’s the nickname we had for my Tia Marga (or, as Emilia calls her, ‘Tia Manga’ – which is funny because ‘manga’ means ‘sleeve’). My Tia is a NICU nurse in Northern Virginia and has, as one can imagine, mad skills with little babies. Kids in general love her – she’s the kind of aunt who will do the wacky crafts with them and will let them go wild with the glitter – but babies – man does the woman know her way around some babies – my little fellas included. Below are some shots from her stay (since Tia is in the witness relocation program, there aren’t really any pics of her :)

Not only did Tia Marga bring gifts but she also brought her cooking skills (crema de apio here we come!), her wealth of knowledge about all things baby (who knew they were born with important ‘brown fat?!’), but also…

…her talents as a spa technician (the baths that used to leave Emilia screaming are a thing of the past – who knew I had the water too cold and you can swaddle them in the tub too!),

emilia supervising.

javier (don’t you love how he stuck his little foot out!)

andres – looking rather grumpy.

…her mad swaddling skills (really, if you think you know how to swaddle, you have no idea – holy baby burritos!),

post-spa-body wrapping.

…and the craziest (but most effective) baby burping method ever (not for the faint of heart).

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

And to think… one week ago our boys hadn’t yet arrived and now, this is the scene in our house in the mornings…

big sister watching her morning show flanked by her hermanitos – clearly they’re uninterested in “Maggie and the Ferocious Beast”

another of emilia’s famous smirks. what a proud (and tired!) papa.

we’ve learned quickly (and thanks to Dr. Walker for pointing it out) that the boys sleep much better when snuggled up against one another rather than in separate bassinets. bassinet bumper courtesy of A of course.

keeping a watchful eye (after offering a ‘bunny goldfish’)

Sunday was absolutely to-die-for Carolina Fall weather – sunny and warm. Emilia and Papa spent some time in the driveway working on her point guard skills.

she shoots – she scores!

holy sunburst picture

guarding against papa’s shot.

my. best. girl.

Friday was the boy’s first visit to Dr. Walker. Javier was the one she was most ‘worried’ about since he was the smaller of the two and the more ‘reluctant’ eater. His stats on Friday were:

weight: 5 lbs, 7 oz.

length: 18 inches (an inch shorter than what they measured in the hospital, but this measurement seems more accurate to me).

Head circumference: 33 3/4 cm.

Dr. W noted that his skull plates in the back were overlapping slightly – a sign we needed to watch his hydration levels. also, since he’d had high hemoglobin results in the hospital she wanted to see him again on Monday to check for jaundice. Also, J has a blocked tear duct in his left eye we need to encourage to clear.

Andres:

weight: 5 lbs, 13 oz.

length: 18 1/2 inches long (again, seems more accurate to me).

head circumference: 34 cm.

Overall Dr. W was super pleased with Andres’ progress but wanted to see them both back today (Tuesday). She recommended supplementing them with a little formula every other feeding just to get some meat on their bones. In just a few short days Andres’ weight was up to 6 lbs., 6 oz. and Javier is now up to 5 lbs, 14 oz. Hurrah! She’s no longer worried about jaundice with Javier and Andres’ umbilical cord finally fell off so the boy can get a bath. Whew! Until they’re both over the 7 pound mark Dr. W wants to keep watching their weight so we’ll take them back the week after Thanksgiving to see what they’re up to.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Thank goodness I made it to my goal of getting through Halloween! I was so concerned early on that by this point either I’d be on bedrest or that something would have prevented Emilia from having a great Halloween experience. Fortunately Emilia was able to enjoy a GREAT Halloween, full of carved pumpkins, treats, costumes and friends.

First up – our neighborhood Pumpkinfest – a chance for the little ones to paint a pumpkin (much safer than letting them wield a knife!) Pictures taken 2 weeks ago.

kyrie’s pumpkin on the right.

While Papa took care of the painting, Mama was in charge of Halloween-cookie-making…

recipe courtesy Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking” cookbook. Sprinkles brought to you by Emi Puchis Poo. They were far yummier than they look – black sprinkles are a bit disconcerting looking.

Halloween Day started off with carving the pumpkin in her PJs in freezing cold October morning weather. Bbbrrrrr. But nothing could wipe the smile off my girlie.

Finally it was time to get the party started. Emilia always starts off at our neighbor’s house, the Hickmans. She was pretty tentative at first, but pretty soon was knocking on doors like a door-to-door saleswoman. Also, note all the people out in our street. We estimate at least 100 trick-or-treaters. Of course my mom ran out of candy because I bought less this year than last, so we had to shut off the light early.

Emi and her buddy Graham (aka Woody from Toy Story) – they walked hand-in-hand most of the night.

Ky and Ms. Claitlin made their way to our side of the ‘hood – don’t you love Ky’s monkey costume (and the look on Emi’s face). They didn’t recognize each other at first! Kyrie ended up trick-or-treating with Emilia and the gang for a couple of houses before going home.

Strawberry Shortcake and Huckleberry Pie – Marcus was so worried when he learned he had to be a character from Strawberry Shortcake. Luckily for him, Huck wears jeans, a blue shirt and a ball cap. It wasn’t much of a stretch for him costume-wise.

Our neighbors do an annual hayride through the neighborhood where we throw candy at trick-or-treaters and the kids get to see all the lights and such. There must have been 30 of us crammed onto the back of Brian’s truck. Such fun.